Inside tour: First lady decorates White House for Christmas

The first lady's theme is "Time-Honored Traditions", a nod to 200 years of holiday celebrations at the executive mansion.

Despite apologising for the comments in the run-up to the election a year ago, the President has told allies the voice was not actually his, according to The New York Times.

Now President Trump has weighed in. The first lady unveiled the decorations at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on Monday, while welcoming children of military families to the residence. As president, Trump repeated the promise yet again in October 2017 at the Value Voters Summit in Washington, D.C., proclaiming, "We're saying "Merry Christmas" again". It is one that you have heard me speak about many times before.

"You don't see "merry Christmas" anymore", Trump said during a speech in Missouri on Wednesday afternoon, in which he promoted the GOP's tax reform plan.

Among the Christmas standards is an 18-foot (about 5.5-meter) fir tree in its traditional spot in the Blue Room, decorated with ornaments bearing the seals of every state and USA territory. The White House said Mrs Trump chose every detail of the decor and did a final check late Sunday after returning from the family's Thanksgiving at their estate in Palm Beach, Florida. There is also a gingerbread house, candy, and arts and crafts for the more than 25,000 visitors expected to pass through during the holiday season.

The National Christmas Tree will be lit during a ceremony that starts at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 30, at the White House.

The "birther" conspiracy theory was first peddled during the 2008 presidential race and asserts Mr Obama was ineligible to be president because he was not born a citizen of the US. Fifty-six Lego gingerbread houses, one for each state and USA territory, were nestled in the branches of the trees that decorated the State Dining Room.

Researchers believe flu vaccine may not be as effective this yearDec 01, 2017 - 06:34
Note that the nasal spray flu vaccine is no longer recommended due to a lack of proven effectiveness for preventing influenza. Flu vaccines are created to protect against the most common flu viruses. "Getting the flu is an very bad experience".

Blake Griffin has sprained MCL, could be out two monthsNov 30, 2017 - 14:04
The departure of Chris Paul led the team to splash out on Griffin as they were desperate to keep one of its stars. Rivers appeared to have fallen on Griffin, whose knee got twisted as he landed on his back.

EP is concerned about impact of Brexit on Irish borderNov 30, 2017 - 13:57
Irish Government: No physical infrastructure on the border and the same rules on trade on both sides. That leaves the sensitive question of the Irish border as the main obstacle in separation talks.

Better late than never: The 2019 BMW i8 Roadster is finally hereNov 30, 2017 - 13:53
BMW made a decision to equip i8 Roadster with only two-seats in order to make more room for the vehicle's power-operated soft top. This allows for a 12-hp bump in peak power from the front electric motor , bringing its output to 141 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque.

Judge postpones Uber trade secret trial based on bombshell memoNov 29, 2017 - 01:10
The letter contended that Jacobs had been wrongfully demoted, then fired for trying to stop the company's alleged misconduct. Uber had a unit dedicated to stealing trade secrets, according to ex-staffer Richard Jacobs, who testified in court Tuesday.

Ex-Leicester boss Shakespeare could join Allardyce at EvertonNov 29, 2017 - 01:10
Everton are moving closer to appointing Sam Allardyce as their new manager as talks continue to progress positively, BBC reports. Everton chiefs are now reported to have conceded defeat in their attempts to bring in the Portuguese manager.

There's a bug in Apple's most recent operating systemNov 29, 2017 - 01:07
The attacker needs only to head to Users & Groups, click the lock at bottom-left, then try to log in as " root " with no password. Published to Twitter on Tuesday by software engineer Lemi Orhan Ergin , the vulnerability is alarmingly straightforward.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to Wednesday at Windsor CastleNov 29, 2017 - 01:05
She will conduct a street walk to meet the public, visit the National Justice Museum, and join a celebration for World AIDS Day. Ms Markle is to become the fourth patron of the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry .

UK Gov publishes Industrial StrategyNov 28, 2017 - 01:23
The Strategy comes after a green paper consultation earlier this year received nearly 2,000 responses from industry and academia. Published this morning, the industrial strategy places clean growth among four "Grand Challenges" that it aims to solve.

HTC rolling out Android 8.0 Oreo for unlocked U11 todayNov 28, 2017 - 01:22
The smartphone was shipped with Android 7.1 in the U.S. market, which left users anticipating the update for Android 8.0 Oreo. Nonetheless, all users can expect all the major features coming to HTC U11 as a part of Android 8.0 Oreo update.